Amateurs defy 17-million-toone odds

LONDON: A pair of amateur golfers have toasted their success on the British course where they defied incredibly long odds by hitting consecutive holes in one.

Jayne Mattey and Clair Shine achieved the feat at the same hole one after the other at East Berkshire Golf Club in southeast England. The odds of two players from the same foursome acing the same hole is calculated at 17 million to one, according to the National Hole-in-One Registry.

The pair had never played together before the friendly match on Saturday. It was Mattey’s maiden hole in one and a second for Shine, who gained her first more than a decade ago in 2005.

They marked their success with a toast on Thursday as they returned to the woodland course for another round and already have plans to play together again next week.

“People are coming up to us in the clubhouse and offering to be our agents and jokingly asking for our autographs,” said Mattey, 57.

“We didn’t realise its significance to begin with. Statistics didn’t come into it, we found it quite amusing.

“We only really realised when we posted something on the club members’ ladies’ Facebook group about us each getting a hole in one on the same hole that someone said the odds. It was very exciting. We just couldn’t believe it, we were so surprised.”

The 13th hole where the magic happened is notoriously problematic for the club’s players. It is a par-three hole surrounded by a deep ditch. Shine said the pair celebrated with “high fives” and a “little dance”.

The 77-year-old, who has been playing golf for 25 years, said: “I think it’s amazing. We just didn’t expect that. We were actually playing against each other at the time. It was wonderful. A hole in one does not come around very often.” — AFP